Method of forming bridging and a brace therefor



June 12, 1934.

E. SHEBELER ET AL METHOD OF FORMING BRIDGING AND A BRACE THEREFOR FiledMay 28, 1931' ZNVE/VIaKS 6 H EBELER C.- BoEHM EDWARD 4 EDWA b PatentedJune 12, 1934 UNITED STATES METHOD OF FORMING BRIDGING AND A BRACETHEREFOR Edward S. Hcbelcr, Williamsville, and Edward C. Boehm, Buffalo,N. Y

Application May 28, 1931, Serial No. 540,580

6 Claims.

It is well known to those skilled in the art that where metal joists areused in the construction of buildings, the combined strength of thefloor is greatly increased by tying the joists together with, crossbridging in such a manner that the bridging will be subjected to notonly tensional strains but also those ,-of compression. This has beenattempted in a number of cases by braces which have clips or clamps ateach end, and in some cases with a number of tabs in an attempt to makethe braces adjustable. However, all of these have failed to meet theneed in that if such braces are to be adjustable, they must beadjustable to minutely varying amounts, which a plurality of tabs makesimpossible. Furthermore, many of such prior braces take onlycompressional strains.

It has been an object of our device to overcome the disadvantages abovepointed out, and to provide bridging which can be adjusted to even thesmallest variation of space between joists so that the bracing may takethe load immediately without any lostmotion either in compression ortension.

Another object has been to provide a method of forming bridging by whichthe bridging may be cut and formed upon the job and at the time of use,so that the workmen can measure the distance between the joists wherethe brace is to be used, and then out such. brace to the lengthrequired.

Moreover, our method contemplates the use of welding for securing thebracing in place, which makes the brace an integral part of the joiststo which it is attached, so that the load carried by the joists isdistributed throughout the series of joists thus braced.

Another objecthas been to so cut and form the ends of the bracing thatthe welding area at such ends will be substantially equal to thecross-sectional area of the brace.

Furthermore, our bracing is adjustable since when used with joists ofI-beam cross-section or with any other section having horizontalflanges, one end of the bracing will contact with such horizontalflanges and may be secured in place wherever it lies after having hadthe other end of the brace secured in place.

The above objects and advantages have been accomplished by the deviceshown in the accompanying drawing, of which:

Fig. 1 shows a fragmentary, sectional view of a number of joists withour bridging in place.

Fig. 2 shows an enlarged, fragmentary, per

spective view of a joist with one end of our bracing secured in place.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged end view of our bracing when made of angle iron.

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary side elevation of the end of an angle ironbracing.

Fig. 5 is a sectional view taken on line 5-5 of Fig. 4.

Fig. 6 is an enlarged perspective view of a brace made of tubing,showing the formation of its end.

Our brace 8 is made preferably of angle iron, as shown in all of thefigures, except Fig. 6, and is cut on the job to the desired length. Thelength of each brace when used with I-beam joists is less than thediagonal distance between the points of union of the flanges and webs ofadjacent I-beams, and 'is preferably longer than the diagonal distancebetween the flange edges of two adjacent joists. Obviously, if desired,the braces may be made of a length substantially equal to the diagonaldistance between the flange edges of adjacent joists. In cutting orshearing the bracing from the stock from which it is made, the angleiron is placed with the edges of its legs in contact with'one of theshears and with its apex in contact with the other shear. When shearedin this position the legs of the angle will be forced to a positionwhere they will lie in substantially the same plane, and when the endhas thus been deformed or reformed, it will be sheared off, as clearlyshown in Figs. 2, 3, and 4, thus forming a substantially straightsurface 10 extending across the end of the brace, having a length equalto substantially the length of the two legs 11 and 12 of the angle whichgives to the end surface 10 an area substantially equal to thecross-sectional area of the brace.

When the. brace is used, it is assembled with its straight edge surfaces10 arranged in planes which are substantially parallel to the planes ofthe flanges 13 and 14 of the I-beams 15. When so positioned, the upperend of the brace is preferably first secured to the edge of the flanges13 of the I-beams by being welded thereto, whereby this upper end of thebrace is substantially flush with the upper surface of the flange 13 ofthe I- beam. The other end of the brace is allowed to rest upon theflange 14 of the next adjacent I- beam, as clearly shown in Fig. 1,where it will adjust itself toany variation in the spacing of thejoists, whereupon it also is welded in place and to the flange 14.Obviously, while we have shown and described the welding of the upperend of the braces to the edges of the flanges 13, if desired these maybe welded to the edges of the lower flanges 14 or the braces may be madeof such a length that they will reach across the edges and engage withthe inner surfaces of each of 5 the flanges 13. and 14 of oppositejoists, where they to the cross-sectional area of the brace.

will be weldedin place as above described.

'Instead of making the braces 8 of material having an angle ironcross-section, itis obvious that they may be'made of channel iron or oftubing 16, as shown in Fig. 6. When made of channel iron the flanges ofthe channel iron will be flattened out (not shown) in the same way asthe legs 10 and "11 of the angle iron shown in the drawing and will liein substantially the same plane as the body part of the channel iron,thus giving it end welding surfaces substantially equal When the tubularbrace 16 is used, as shown in Fig. 6, the tubing is flattened at theends, thus providing a flaring end'l'l the side walls of the tubingbeing brought together whereby a. surface 18 is provided which has anarea equal to substantially the total area of the tubing.

Where in the claims we use the term structural shape, we mean allstructural shapes, other than flats, and those which require crosssectional deformation of their ends in order to bring about a straightline contact with-the joists.

Obviously, some modifications of the details herein shown and describedmay be made without departing from the spirit of our invention or thescope of the appended claims, and we do not,

therefore, wish to be limited to the exact embodiment herein shown anddescribed, the form shown beingmerely a preferred embodiment thereof.

Having thus described our invention, what we claim is:

1. A brace for bridging joists, comprising a piece of material ofstructural shape of a length substantially equal to the diagonaldistance between the edges of the flanges of adjacent joists, the crosssection of the ends of the brace being deformed so as to provide asurface formed in substantially a straight line and having an area equalto substantially the area of the cross-section of the material formingthe brace, whereby such braces may be welded to the joists and thustransmit compression and tension.

2. A brace for bridging joists, comprising a piece of angle iron of alength substantially equal to the diagonal distance between the edges ofthe flanges of adjacent joists, the legs of the angles at the ends beingdeformed so that they will lie in substantially the same plane and havea welding area equal "to substantially the total crosssectional area ofthe brace, whereby such braces face formed in a substantially straightline and having a Welding area equal to substantially thecross-sectional area of the material forming the brace, whereby suchbraces may be welded to the joists and thus transmit compression andtension.

4. A method of forming bridging, comprising cutting the braces to alength at least equal to the distance from the edge of one flange to thesurface of the diagonally opposite flange of the adjacent joist, weldingthe upper ends of the braces to the edge of the upper flange of onejoist, resting the lower ends of the braces on the upper surface of thediagonally opposite flange of the next joist, and welding such lowerends to the flange where they come to rest, whereby the braces transmitcompression and tension.

5. A method of forming bridging, comprising cutting braces from materialof structural shape to a length at least equal to the distance from theedge of one flange to the surface of the diagonally opposite flange ofthe adjacent joist, reforming the ends of the braces so as to provide asubstantially flat surface such that it, together with the flange, willprovide a welding contact having an area equalto substantially the areaof the cross section of the material forming the braces, welding theupper ends of the braces to the edge of the upper flange of one joist,resting the lower ends of the braces on the upper surface of thediagonally opposite flange of 'the next joist, and welding such lowerends to the flange where they come to rest, whereby the braces transmitcompression and tension.

6. The combination with metal joists, of bridging comprising a piece ofmaterial of structural shape of a length substantially equal to thediagonal distance between the edges of the flange of adjacent joists,one end of the bridging being welded to the edge of one of the joistflanges and the other end of the bridging being welded to the surface ofthe diagonally opposite flange of the adjacent joist, whereby thebridging will transmit compression and tension.

' EDWARD S. HEBELER.

EDWARD C. BOEHM.

